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Okay. So you're in the bookstore staring at the shelves of sf and f novels. You pick one out of the crowd and head off to the counter to fork over real money for the privilege of reading said novel.
(This does not work for library books because you are not risking money for the chance to read those.)
What I have bought recently and how did it sell itself to me?
MATTER by Iain Banks -- why? Because I am familiar with the author and buy his "culture" novels. And this has been advertised as being one of those.
I also bought SPINDRIFT by Allen Steele. Why? Because it is one of the few new paperback books that -- by the cover and blurb -- look to be space adventures novels. Was I hooked by the first page? No. I'm going on the stuff that came after the mss was read. Of course, it got published in the first place because Steele has a track record.
How would a new novelist's novel catch me? I don't know the author's name. To catch me, the book sitting on the shelf needs a title that catches my eye. Then a good blurb that persuades me the story might be good. The final hook is opening the book and sampling the first few pages. If the writing is inadequate, back it goes on the shelf.
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What SF did I buy recently? Well, stuff that was kinda old to begin with...
Darwinia, by Robert Charles Wilson. A reprint. I'd seen a review somewhere that intrigued me, and I stumbled across a copy. (It did not disappoint me, either; I did not necessarily buy some of the details but found it a good read.)
A short story collection by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (The title eludes me, it's not in front of me right now.) Modesitt has built a reputation in recent years, but I remember seeing his name in the magazines in the 1970s and 1980s, and some of those stories were included. Besides, I also like short story collections with writer's introductions. (I read the intros, but only a few of the stories, so far.)
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My most recent acquisitions were Jeff Shaara's civil war books. I'm going through an historical fiction phase. I did, however, notice a trend in historical fiction. It seems only the well-known periods are written about often. I see tons of American Civil War era books (sea OR land), plenty of WWII books, and a decent selection on Ancient Rome. I don't see much of the Hundred Years War, (Non-Thermopylae/Troy related) Ancient Grecian battles, Persian Battles, Germanic or Ancient Egypt. Unless there is a chance that you've heard about it, you don't see much fiction based in an era.
The last new writer's novel I bought was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, but I have an entire world of writers that I haven't read to explore.
Why? Cover was nicely done, he came highly recommended by OSC, David Farland, Kevin J. Anderson (All authors that I like and respect), title The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day 1, and I knew that a part of that book had been a winnin Writers of the Future short story.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited April 25, 2008).]
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Just ordered Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden. I've never read anything from him. Next up are Jeremy's Staked, and Christine's Touch of Fate.
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The whole Rama series, because Arthur C. Clarke died and I felt bad that I hadn't read more of his work while he was living. It was kind of nice to read through what was work that spanned maybe a decade or more in publishing time, but for me was only a few weeks' reading time. The stories flowed remarkably well from one to the next, I was surprised by that. I definitely saw the influence of the co-author Gentry Lee in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th books.
I recently also ordered a hardcover set of the HP books. Reason? They were on sale via the Scholastic catalogs from my daughter's preschool, so her school benefits, and they were at a considerable discount - much cheaper than Amazon or any other price I've seen. While I've been halfheartedly looking at resale book shops for the HP hardcover (I have a preference for reading in hardcover) the truth is I don't frequent the resale shops and it was going to be a years-long quest. I'd like to re-read the series probably this summer, I didn't want to wait that long.
Previous recent purchases include the Forever War, by Haldeman, based on a strong strong recommendation from a sci-fi freak friend, and cool cover art. Also, I chose a specific version that had an author's forward that helped "sell" me on the specific edition.
I also got a David Weber book, again on recommendation. I've read the Haldeman, but not the Weber.
Oh, and at the library's used book sale I got The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley, because I loved the book and wanted to own it. Loved Hero and the Crown better, but this one too. Suppose it's not the same, though, because the author's not getting the benefit of my purchase of that book (and heck, it might have been one of the 4 for a dollar books.)
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